Trapped Within The Madness
by 93BNMill
Summary: There was only silence, overwhelming and utterly unnatural. The dead were gone, their voices silent. The world she was in was a nightmare, a mockery of what all that was natural. Lost and afraid, a shadow follows. In the darkness of madness, survival is adapting. And if she was to make it out alive, she'd to learn to play the game before it was too late.
1. 22, September 2017

**Trapped Within The Madness**

* * *

 **Author's Note**

My first intention wasn't on writing a Fanfic for 'The Evil Within,' but here it is. This first chapter came out as a tribute to the game itself, as it was inspiried by the horrors I had watched Markiplier play throuhg. This was posted on my WordPress account first, but, as I looked more into it, I thought I might as well place it here for everyone to read. I'm in the middle of working on a second chapter. I'm not all that sure how far I'll go with this, as writing for video games isn't a strong suit of mine (I'm also working on a FanFic for 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilk' that I'm supper excited about). Not to mention the 'Harry Potter' fanfics I have going on in the background, too.

Lots of writing. Lots and lots and _lots_ of writing. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this first chapter.

So, without further ado:

Read, Enjoy & _Review!_

* * *

 **Chapter One**

* * *

Death was not as silent as many people believed. The dead were chatty creatures. Ellie knew this better than most, she'd dare say. As she made her way across the massive compound, purse over her shoulder, she tried to ignore the stares following her. How many souls were wandering these old grounds, their voices nothing more than faint whispers on the wind? She kept her gaze on the ground, limp, brown hair falling around her face in waves. A bitter smile pulled at her mouth. The dead were far from silent.

"Ma'am?" Ellie's gaze rose. A nurse was approaching her, dressed regally in a flowing lab coat, a clipboard in hand. Ellie adjusted her grip on her purse, eyeing this woman as she steadily got closer to where she stood. A quick once-over told her this woman was among the living, the edges of her body _too_ solid to be one of the souls ambling across the bright hospital grounds. "Ma'am, can I help you with something?"

"You can, yes," Ellie met this woman's gaze, voice light as she said, "I'm Ellie Stern. I was asked to come here by Dr. Penora regarding my, uh, _condition.._."

The nurse looked at her clipboard, flipping through the pages. "Yes, I see you here. You're early, Miss Stern."

"I know," Ellie shifted, offering a slight smile. She stepped forward, holding this woman's gaze. Ellie lowered her voice as she said, "Things were getting hectic, back at home. One of the brochures mentioned a housing option for volunteers."

"I understand, Miss Stern," the nurse stepped to the side, gesturing towards the path leading to the hospital's massive, silver doors. "Come, let's get you checked in. We should let Dr. Penora know you're here."

The two of them walked in silence, for a time.

The Housing Quarter was empty, for the most part. The front desk was devoid of a nurse on duty, so the woman who had found her checked her in. Ellie looked around the open space, looking for a sign of _anyone_ who could be around. Living or dead. The oppressive silence began to weigh on her, the deeper she went inside. The noise from the outside was a distant memory, barely there.

A thousand, unseen eyes watched her.

"This is your room," the nurse told her as she unlocked a door. Ellie stepped inside, her gaze moving over the almost-empty room with a sense of wonder. There was only a bed to the side, a small desk and chair, an open door that lead to a closet and another door she was certain was the entrance to a bathroom. Behind her, the nurse said, "Dr. Penora isn't here, today. He'll be back tomorrow afternoon. Take the rest of the day to settle in. I'll be back this evening to check on you and to take you to the cafeteria."

The nurse left after that, gone like a leaf on a sudden, hard wind. Ellie blinked.

The silence, here, was comfortable. "How glorious it would be, if my world was always this quiet."

Ellie closed her eyes, head tilted back as the sunlight streaming through the windows washed over her face. She smiled, shoulders relaxing. She was still for a long time, content to rest in the peace in the middle of her room. The air was still, the only sound that of her own heartbeat and the distant clap of thunder.

She wasn't sure _where_ the dead had gone, not when they had always been near.

Exhaling, Ellie opened her eyes. She tossed her purse onto her bed and made her way to the closet. It was empty, save a few robes. The rest of her clothing would arrive in a few days, perhaps. She was early, after all. Every step she made, an echo followed.

"I wonder where all the souls are at," Ellie ran her hands over the desk, knowing she'd write many letters in that seat. Her family didn't know she had come. They wouldn't understand, a small part of her whispered. She smiled, a sad turn of the lips. The room was still, devoid of the souls that had resided there long before she had been born. "It's unlike them to be so quiet, especially in a hospital."

Ellie left her room, knowing, then, that she ought to explore a bit. Dr. Penora wouldn't be with her until the following afternoon, at the earliest. As she made her way down the long, brightly-lit hallway, Ellie felt her body relax. As she got further along the path, there was a shift in the air. A familiar one, one she had felt many times before. Soft, broken sobs drifted to her senses, carrying from a distance.

Ellie followed the sound. She paused at a door cracked open, the soft cries of a distraught woman coming from within. Ellie lightly knocked on the door, listening. No one answered. She bit her lip. _'Should I go find a doctor?'_ Ellie looked over her shoulder, the hall long and imposing. Her gaze went back to the door. After a moment of silence, she pushed the door open and eased her way into the room.

The room was lavish, the bed, tucked in the corner, covered in a rich comforter befitting for someone from a family of wealth. A table and chairs decorated the middle of the room, a full-length mirror tucked in the corner. The massive divide in the room, a piece of furniture befitting the East, cut off a section of the room where she spied part of a door. The bathroom, Ellie knew.

Was this patient, her new neighbor, getting ready to shower?

"Excuse me, I'm Ellie," the brunette made her way across the room, making her way to the massive, wooden room diver. As she circled the table, she saw a pale leg. Eyes widening, Ellie picked up her pace. Had this person fallen over? Was _that_ why she was crying? Did she need help? "Ma'am, hold on a moment. I'm almost there."

When she stepped around the divider, Ellie froze. This patient, a woman, was dead.

All the blood pooling around her body, golden hair curling around her pale, limp body. Hovering over the top of her, transparent and face in hands, was the same woman. Ellie stepped forward, slowly reaching out for the shimmering, shaking shoulder of the woman as she whispered, "Ma'am, what happened here?"

The moment her fingers curled around her shoulder, the woman turned. Ellie saw right past her to the slit throat, stomach clenching as the spirit gazed up at her with wide, terrified eyes. She rose to her feet, voice soft as she said, "He killed us. He came out of nowhere, fueled by rage and anger and, oh _god,_ what have they done?"

"Ma'am," Ellie grasped the woman by both shoulders, grip firm, her voice stern as she asked, _"Who_ killed you?"

The spirit broke apart, voice a whisper as she said, "They did this to him and he came for all us, trapped in rage and fury and hatred. God, what have they _done?"_

Ellie knew she wouldn't be getting an answer from this woman, not now. Standing, Ellie backed away from the body with a sick stomach. Who had killed this woman? Why had she been killed? Was there a patient on the loose? She eyed the cut, the line sharp and clean. It was precise, done undoubtedly by a very sharp tool. Maybe a scalpel?

Ellie left the cramped space, knowing the spirit was following her. A touch of coldness lurked with her, curling and curious. She was near the table when there was another shift, a sense of static in the room so intense that it was difficult to move. Ellie felt a chill crawl up her spine - someone, or _something_ , was watching her.

"Behind you!"

Ellie turned, her body pitching to the side as something gray and smoky flew past her face. Her back hit the wall as she eyes adjusted, mouth going dry as she caught sight of an arm buried halfway to the elbow _in_ the wall. Pieces of stone crumbled to the ground, each impact loud and deafening to her ears as this person, this _man_ , slowly pulled his arm free from the wall. His head tilted to the side, slightly.

Gray eyes, cold and frozen, clashed against brown.

Off to the side, the dead patient let out a broken cry. "Run, you have to _run!_ "

Ellie watched as he straightened his body, frozen in place as this man, oblivious to the woman crying off to the side, screamed and yelled. He regarded her silently, his form like smoke and ash as he stepped towards her. "You knew I was there. How?"

His eyes narrowed when she didn't respond, voice akin to a growl as he said, "I asked you a question, _girl_. How did you know?"

"S-s-she told me," Ellie kept her back to the wall as she pushed herself to her feet, arms crossed protectively over her chest. When his eyes narrowed further, the walls around them crumbling and darkness spreading through the once, brightly-lit room, she made a sharp gesture towards the dead body as she squeaked, _"She told me!"_

His hand slammed against the wall next to her face, his nose brushing hers. He held her gaze as he murmured, "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not," Ellie pressed her hands against his shoulders, voice cracking as she said, "I'm not, I _swear_ I'm not lying. She's right _there!_ She told me you were behind me, moments before you tried to _kill_ me..."

Her heart was pounding, beating erratically within her chest. She was having difficulty drawing in air, vision spotting along the edges as a cold, calloused hand grabbed her chin with enough force to wretch a cry from her lips. Ellie stared into his eyes, held that unfeeling gaze, as he invaded her personal space. At that moment, she would have liked the dead to rise up around her. _They_ would know what to do, in a situation such as this.

She almost didn't feel the sting of the needle slipping into her skin.

Ellie stared at this man in shock, gaze dropping to the hub of the needle pressed against the skin above the crook of her arm. Ellie watched as he pressed the plunger all the way down, the murky liquid leaving the clear cylinder and flowing through the shaft of the needle into her body. Her gaze jumped back to his, wide and panicked.

A cold smile was all she had as an answer as ice flooded her veins. Her lips parted, a cry on the tip of her tongue, but her voice gave out. A sense of terror washed through her, suddenly unable to breathe as her vision swam. She didn't feel the needle leave her skin, only saw it drop to the ground. Red droplets splattered the ground around it.

Then she couldn't feel _anything_.

She sank into his grasp, her entire form caught within a sense of numbness. She felt her body lift off the ground, her arm hanging limp as her head lulled. Ellie blinked, eyes growing heavy. Her cheek pressed against a scarred, cold chest. She peered up at this man with cold eyes, blinking slowly as she tried to hold his gaze.

It was a futile effort.

Like a child tentatively chasing a dream, she sank into darkness. All around her, the world vanished. There were only shades of grey, white noise and the distant sound of a woman screaming and the scent of burning wood. Then there was nothing.


	2. 25, September 2017

**Trapped Within The Madness**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

* * *

The slow, steady drizzle of rain drew Ellie from her dreams.

She shifted where she laid, groggy and disorientated. Ellie slowly sat up, cold and wholly confused. She eyed her surroundings, blinking slowly as she ran her hands across the damp stones beneath her. Rising on all sides were stone walls, broken and crumbling as the first rays of dawn inched over the horizon. As Ellie stood, she realized one thing:

She didn't know where she was.

Ellie turned in a hard circle, eyes widening as she realized _she didn't know where she was_. She couldn't _hear_ anything. There were no distant, humming whispers. Gone were the echoing cries, the soft pleas for help no more. There was no one other than herself, no sound she could hear other than the deafening silence in a world _too_ quiet.

The edges of her vision began to pulse black. Her breath came in hard gasps as she staggered back a few steps, one hand flying out to hit the nearest wall. Ellie's nails bit into the stone, sharp bursts of pain shooting up her arm as the overwhelming _silence,_ the lack of _anything_ familiar, filled her.

 _She didn't know where she was._

 _'I'm alone,'_ Ellie wrapped her arms around herself. Alone. She pressed close to the wall, gaze darting from one corner of the street to the next. Abandoned cars rested, doors wide open. Shops were empty, the glass from the broken windowpanes littering the streets with invisible shards. _'I'm alone. There's no one here. Oh god, I'm alone...'_

She was panicking. Ellie knew she was on the edge of hyperventilating. She could barely breathe, her body was shaking and there was this intense _'whoosh, whoosh'_ sound in her ears that made her think she was underwater or drowning. She turned, tears welling up in her eyes as she cast her gaze across the empty streets of what she knew to be a mockery of Krimson City. Or what was _supposed_ to be Krimson City?

When she turned, she did realize that, behind her, was Beacon. The hospital seemed to come out of the ground, absent one moment and then suddenly there. Screaming cop cars littered the front of the building, dead officers lay in pools of blood. Off to the side, she heard the screech of an ambulance and she turned, eyes wide, as a medical _van_ came careening directly at her.

Ellie screamed. She threw herself out of the way, nearly falling when a strong hand caught her arm and her feet left the ground. She instinctively reached back, a shrill scream leaving her as the road suddenly dropped out from under where her feet _would_ be if she had been standing there.

The earth dropped out into nothing inches from the edge of the wheel.

Ellie found the arm that had grabbed hold of her, feet kicking the empty air. She felt an empty window hitting the back of her thighs before she was hauled into the passenger seat, draped across the lap of a dark-haired cop that still had a tight grip on her. In the backseat, she heard someone say, "Is she alright?"

"You alright, ma'am?" Ellie's gaze slowly went up to the man that had grabbed her, that had _saved_ her, and she slowly nodded. Her mouth was dry. He offered her a metal flask with a smile. When she took a drink, she nearly spat it out. He patted her back. "Whiskey isn't for everyone, but it'll wet your throat. I'm Sebastian, by the way."

She handed him the flask, turning slowly to look into the back of the ambulance. A few people were already back there, one being a doctor who was tending to his patient. The other was a woman, a cop from the looks of it. As Ellie eyed the group, she introduced herself before asking, "What's going on? What's happening to the city?"

"Not a damn clue," Sebastian stated, face grim. Ellie eyed this man, his amber-colored eyes steely as he shot a look at the rearview mirror. "Where'd you come from, anyway?"

Ellie wasn't sure how to answer that question. She told him as much, too.

"Damn," the cop ran a hand through his hair, face lined. He pointed to the path ahead of them, the other cop driving steadily through empty streets as Sebastian said, "I was hoping you might know something. Did you see any cops before I grabbed you?"

"No," Ellie eyed him for a long moment, not quite sure why he asked. The officer driving glanced over at them, voice soft as he said, "I waited as long as I could. Maybe Joseph found a different way out. He's more than able."

In the back of the ambulance, the doctor was whispering to his patient. Ellie wasn't able to hear what, exactly, the man was saying. The boy, however, was rocking back-and-forth in his seat, hands clasped around his head. When she looked at the review mirror, she was startled to see a familiar, robed man staring down at the doctor with contempt in his eyes. Sebastian, sitting under her, startled with enough force to jar her, nearly throwing her to the floor as he whipped around to look into the back of the ambulance.

When the boy started screaming 'fall' over and over again, she hadn't expected for the ambulance to plummet. She only knew that they were driving through a city crumbling into nothing one moment and the next they were falling. She grabbed onto the cop's shoulders, buried her face against a taut neck as his arms closed around her. His last scream - _"Brace for impact!" -_ was drowned out by the thousand screams clawing at her mind. She was out before the van hit the ground.


	3. 24, November 2017

**Trapped Within The Madness**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

* * *

For as long as she could remember, the dead walked amongst the living. When she was a child, Ellie hadn't known the difference. Now she did.

Flashing lights, blue and red, swung through the darkness like a beacon. Ellie shook her head, trying, in vain, to shake the groggy veil that had settled over her body. As she shifted, damp grass tickling her skin, she realized she was at a crash site. Sitting up, she turned and saw the ambulance, upside down and torn apart, behind her. A dead body was beside it, twisted and mangled and missing limbs. There was no spirit hovering nearby, no ghostly whispers on the wind.

It was silent, the world dark and the air ominously still. She was alone. _Again_.

Ellie refused to think about that, refused to let the panic overwhelm her as she got to her feet. She turned in wide circles, trying to decipher where she was at. All around her were woods, thick and dark and flickering under the light of the fire. Ellie was tempted to edge closer to the flames, to warm her shivering body. Yet there was something about this place, about the silence, that urged her to move and _move now_.

She trusted that instinct and turned away. Ellie moved around the site, hunting for anything that might help her. She found a backpack, though it was largely empty save for a few water bottles and a first aid kit. She eyed the small, red cross on the bag's flap and knew it to be a medic bag. She slipped it onto her back, knowing it was safer to have the bag with her than to be without it. She might find something useful that she could store in that bag. A survival pack, almost empty.

She wondered where everyone else had wandered off to. Did they leave her here, thinking her dead?

Or was she dreaming about the hospital and the dead nurse and the man in white/gray clothing? She tenderly pressed her fingers against her skull, wincing as pain sparked where she prodded. Her fingers came away, wet and red. Maybe she _had_ dreamed all of that. Eyeing the broken ambulance, she had a sinking suspicion that her dream wasn't really a dream. She feared it had actually happened. Her mind was already trying to cover it up, to clamp down on the stress and the trauma to help her cope. Ellie was almost tempted to let it happen.

She set out into the woods, instead. Ellie was nearly blind, the forest a blur of shadows and shapes. She picked her way through with care, shivering when wet grass caressed the naked skin of her legs. She let her hand trail over the damp wood of the trees, the bark rough under her gentle touch. Ellie crawled a massive, twisted root and let her gaze scan her surroundings. In the distance, she spied a lone figure in white. Ellie's eyes widened as she recognized him, the patient from the ambulance rocking himself. As she slid down the tree's warp trunk, his head snapped up and pale, sunken eyes clashed with her amber irises.

"Not safe, not safe, not safe," the boy muttered as she came closer, though he didn't shy away as she came up to him. He did look at her, though, when she took his hand in hers. It trembled, pale and cold, in his grasp as he said, "Light, light, light. Path, left. Path, left. Light, light, light..."

Her gaze shifted to the left. There was a path there. She turned back to this boy as she whispered, "Is there a light on the path on the left?"

"Path, left, light. Path, left, light..." Ellie took his broken answer to be a 'yes' and gently coaxed him to step in that direction as she said, "Come on, let's go to the light. We'll stay on the path, okay?"

"Not safe, not safe, not..." He pulled away, hunched into himself. "Not safe."

"Okay," Ellie looked around them, her gaze shifting to the path on the left before she said, "Then we'll stay _off_ the path while going to the left."

He seemed to think about this for a moment, blue eyes distant. "Not path?"

Ellie smiled. "Not path."

When she tugged on his hand, he took a small step forward. "Path, not safe. Not path, safe."

She stepped into the thick, tall weeds. The boy followed her, one hand grabbing the back of her dress-like top. Then his other hand caught a hold of the belt she had tied around her waist. Ellie slowed, letting him adjust his grip. He seemed to sink against her back, a quivering, nervous mess. His gaze snapped to hers. "Not mess, not mess, not mess. Path, not safe. Not pass, no mess, safe."

"Did you hear my thoughts?"

"Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts..."

"What's your name," Ellie eased them through the weeds, voice a gentle whisper. This pale-haired boy seemed to think about her question for a while. As they made their way further up, he finally whispered, "Leslie, Leslie, Leslie. I Leslie. I Withers."

"I'm El -"

"Ellie, Ellie, Ellie," Leslie whispered, a soft smile tugging at his lips. "Ellie safe. Ellie safe. Path, not safe. Ellie safe."

Much of the hike from there followed a similar path. Ellie would leave, taking baby steps so Leslie wouldn't trip. When she'd veer off too far to one side, Leslie would start muttering about 'danger' and 'not safe,' until she changed course. Then he would start whispering her name, 'safe,' and 'light.' Despite his communication skills, Ellie knew he was aware of his surroundings. Blue eyes darted around them, never staying in one spot even if his head was bowed. He was tense, each small shuffle he took seemed to be a great difficulty for him. Elloccasionallyaly looked to the left. She could always see the path Leslie had mention, though she couldn't quite understand why he thought it wasn't safe. So far she hadn't seen anything that would be dangerous.

She paused from time-to-time, taking a sip from the water bottle in her bag before helping Leslie take a small drink himself. He always thanked her, blue eyes boring into her face unblinkingly. Ellie wondered what happened to him. She wondered why he was a patient at a hospital that was, from what she could tell, completely and utterly destroyed by a white-cloaked psychopath. Or was he a sociopath? Maybe both? Ellie wasn't all that sure.

As they reached the top, Leslie yanked on her belt and dragged her to the ground as gunshots went off. He was curled around her, chin on her head. Ellie could see beyond the weeds, could see the black-haired cop who had saved her. Her eyes widened when he shot a man that lunged at him. Leslie's grip was tight on her body, holding her still as he whispered, "Not safe, not safe, _not safe..."_

When the body, half the head missing, rose from the ground...she knew exactly what Leslie was worried about. The cob, Sebastian if she remembered right, let out a hoarse cry before he shot the zombie again. It's head shattered entirely, falling to the ground. She was certain she heard the man swearing, looking disgusted at the blood that was splattered across his front. When the man was gone, Leslie let her go and she bounded to her feet.

"We could have called out to him!" Ellie eyed the direction the cop went, aghast. Sebastian had a gun. He could _defend_ them. Leslie drew her attention when he shook his head, blue eyes wide as he whispered, "Doesn't know, doesn't know! Cop, not safe. No cop safe. Path, not safe. Light, safe. Light, house. Light, safe."

Ellie ran a hand over her face, not quite sure what to make of this. Leslie smiled in response, shuffling past her into the clearing after a moment of keen hesitation. She followed after the fair-haired boy, her eyes widening as he led them to a tree to a hidden path tucked behind it. It was overgrown. He pointed at it, voice soft as he said, "Not path, light, house, light, safe. Not path, not path safe."

Ellie grinned, unable to help herself. When he took off down the path, his shuffle a semi-run, she was all _too_ happy to follow.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

From the review I got, it would seem the first two chapters are a bit like another story on here. After surfing the stories, I found the one in question. 'Ghostly Whispers,' written by Florentine Dreams, is the one I found. The two do have a common beginning, from what little I read. That was unintentional, on my part. I love ghosts and I love 'The Evil Within.' However, I hope things aren't as 'similiar' here. I'm not entirely sure what I intend to do with this story, though the urge to add this chapter (because Leslie is adorable and far more intelligent than we realize) due to a cute, speach-impared youth who is a center-force in the game.

I hope everyone likes this. If not? That's your problem, not mine.


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